| Jim Himes kicked off his Listening and Leading Tour in the town where Chris Shays grew up, where Republicans currently outnumber Democrats by a 2-1 margin, but also where residents elected a Democratic majority to the Board of Selectmen in 2007.
Not surprisingly, there were some Republicans in the audience. Attendance numbered between about a dozen and 20 people, including some local DTC and RTC members. Shays had a crew videotape the event, as did the Himes campaign.
First, one quick note: Jim smacked down Shays' idea of putting one-third of Social Security funds into private accounts, calling it incredibly "irresponsible" - something obvious to anyone watching the many recent boom-bust cycles.
Jim introduced himself and talked about his priorities, including restoring the American dream, energy reform, universal health care, education. Then he opened it up for questions.
Once the question-and-answer session started, it became pretty apparent what the Shays-friendly crowd wanted to talk about: illegal immigration, the gas tax, illegal immigration, Europe imposing cap-and-trade standards on American airlines (?), illegal immigration, Jerusalem, and oh yeah, did I say illegal immigration?
In a town where Republican leaders have discovered new ways to lose the last two elections despite their overwhelming majority, it quickly became apparent why that is. Rather than deal with topics that people are gravely concerned about - the economy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care, energy reform, education - these folks wanted to dwell on a topic ranked a top priority by only 6% of the population!
This made me think that Chris Shays may be so out of touch because many people in his own Party are out of touch too.
Fortunately, Jim talked a lot about the economy, along with some other issues. Some highlights below the fold: |
Economic policy: He called the Bush-Shays-McCain approach -- "tax cuts" for the rich combined with massive spending on things like the war -- not a tax cut at all but a "tax deferment" to our children.
Energy reform: He stressed the importance of investing in green technology and committing ourselves to building green: "We know how to do this and I'll do it in Congress." He also said we need to go to a cap-and-trade system to create economic incentives for businesses to ween themselves off oil and carbon-based energy.
Health care reform: He talked about the need for universal health care, not only as a moral thing to do but also because the current system is inefficient and broken.
Education: He said that he would make investing in public education a priority - pointing out that our ability to produce great students allows us to create great innovators and a great economy, which is what makes us a superpower.
Mortgage crisis: Create some basic rules for mortgage brokers and create better oversight and regulations for companies like Bear Stearns, who have cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Also, provide some relief for families worse affected by the sale of these bad mortgage deals.
Lowering gas prices: Dip into the U.S. oil reserves for a temporary fix, then deal with the problem with long-term solutions.
Israel: He's for a two-state solution, feels that Muslim nations need to call for an end to terrorist tactics, he's against blaming one side or the other, and thinks the U.S. needs to help negotiate a solution.
Last but not least, Immigration: Secure our borders and penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Then get illegal immigrants documented -- by offering them a "pathway" to citizenship - not amnesty -- by making them pay penalties, go to the end of the line, possibly by having them start with just work visas, etc.
Regarding all the above issues, Jim made a lot of other great points that I didn't include. So I highly recommend that when Jim comes to your town, go and give a listen, share your ideas, and show your support.
Next stop: New Canaan:
Sunday, 7/13, 3 PM
New Canaan High School, Wagner Room, 11 Farm Road, New Canaan, CT 06840 |
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